yes, yes, a thousand times yes. i agree with you -- forum leaders? empowering? give me a break. news consumers do not need that. they do, however, need news that isn't slanted in a particular direction. less spin, more meat, at least an effort to be objective. and spare me the argument that we need to "give the people what they want." seriously? what the people want is a body count and juicy details on tiger's conquests. giving people what they want is usually no more than pandering and, folks, that is no way to run a newsgathering organization.